Before becoming a Counsellor, I worked for many years as a professional actor, much of which was in the field of Theatre In Education (T.I.E.) and other children's theatre projects, both in the UK and abroad. It was during this period that I developed my rapport with children in a school setting, and over the years I observed many cultural and societal shifts that led to young people feeling increasingly isolated. This has never been more apparent than in today's world, as illustrated by the increasing levels of exclusion, bullying, self-harm and violent attacks affecting even very young pupils. With the pressures to succeed at almost any cost being put on youngsters, it is little wonder that we read newspaper articles about yet another teenage suicide on practically a weekly basis.

In years past, teachers were able to wear many hats as part of their job: teacher, mentor, confidante, social worker and business manager to name but a few. Today, however, teachers are subject to their own pressures, in terms of results-driven targets, OFSTED inspections, and a breakdown in discipline. As a result, teachers find it impossible to fulfil all those old commitments without either compromising in other areas or suffering early burn-out. While I acknowledge that teachers still use many of the basic counselling skills, these are no substitute for a professionally-trained Counsellor who has an understanding of the significance of seemingly-unrelated behaviours, incidents and messages, and who is therefore able to explore in far greater depth, with the pupil, why they may be "acting out" (for example) and help them to find new ways of behaving.  Thus the benefits to staff members is clear - provision of an on-site Counsellor allows "teachers to teach, managers to manage and Counsellors to counsell." 

My Approach

A number of schools in the Bournemouth and Poole area, in common with other parts of the country, already have provision for counselling at some level, although this is often in the form of outside agency help, brought in on an 'as-need' basis when a particular pupil is in crisis. While clearly better than no counselling at all, this approach brings its own problems. There is still a certain amount of unfair stigma attached to "seeing a shrink" and schoolchildren are always very quick to pick up on and exploit any perceived weakness in their peers. To have someone brought in especially for you can only exacerbate this problem. I believe that when a Counsellor becomes a familiar face around a school, seen on a regular daily or weekly basis, this issue of being marked out as 'special' or vulnerable quickly evaporates. Additionally, counselling works on the principle of developing trust between Counsellor and client, regardless of their age, and this trust will naturally develop far more rapidly if the Counsellor is a recognisable, friendly face rather than a suspicious-looking stranger.

I also feel that this service should not be exclusively for the use of the pupils. As mentioned above, teachers themselves feel more pressure than ever before, and having someone within their organisation with whom they know they can talk in confidence can only be beneficial. While there is clearly nothing wrong in talking over personal problems with good friends, there will always be an unconscious "agenda" on the part of the friend. The relationship between Counsellor and client is different, and works on the principle of something known as "interested indifference" - while I obviously wish to see you overcome whatever crisis is affecting you, I in no way directly benefit from the outcome, whatever it should be.

If you feel that your school might benefit from what I am able to offer, or would like to find out a little more, please contact me.